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Monday, June 12, 2017

Henrietta (Goff) Howe - Who Are You?

On 18 February 1858, a woman named Henrietta Goff married Christopher C Howe (full name probably Christopher Columbus Howe) in McHenry County, Illinois. They were married by James H Baldwin, MG.[1]

Neither name is that common, and you would think this would be an easy problem to solve. After all, I can find Henrietta and Christopher in Iowa from 1860-1900, and have Henrietta's death certificate from 1902.[2] Of course, none of those name her parents. Other family members move to Iowa in the 1860s and 1870s. It seemed like a perfect fit. Until I realized....

There are two Henrietta Goffs living in McHenry County, Illinois in 1850. Both are born between 1832 and 1835 in New York.

The first is Henrietta Goff, aged 15 years and born in New York, living in the household of David Gough [sic] and Sarah Goff in Center, McHenry Co, Illinois.[3] This is my Henrietta Goff, as her mother is Sarah (Davis) Goff and her grandparents are Asa Davis and Sarah Richardson, and her great-grandparents are Jonathan Richardson and Rhoda Thompson.

The second is Henrietta Goff, aged 19 years and born in New York, living the household of Cameron and Lydia Goff [enumerated as Taff] in Brooklyn, McHenry Co, Illinois.[4]

Based on ages alone, the second Henrietta appears to be a better match than the first when comparing ages in later census records. But knowing how off census ages can be, I keep digging!

A family history, the Genealogy of the Child, Childs and Childe Family, by Elias Child and published in 1881, identifies Henrietta Goff, daughter of Cameron Goff and Lydia Morse, as the wife of Christopher C Howe.[5]

A 1885 history of McHenry County, Illinois, biography of Henrietta's brother William W Goff states that her husband is Christopher C Howe.[6]

[5] Elias Howe, Genealogy of the Child, Childs and Childe Family, Of the Past and Present in the United States and the Canadas from 1630 to 1881 (Utica, New York: Curtis & Childs, 1881), 181.

[6] History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns : educational, religious, civil, military, and political history : portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, also a condensed History of Illinois (Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co., 1885), 601.